Coalition 'pursuing narrow agenda'

Shadow foreign secretary Yvette Cooper will accuse the coalition of having a "shrivelled" vision of Britain's role in the world.

In her first major speech since taking on the brief, Ms Cooper will say David Cameron is "paralysed" by euroscepticism and a fixation with pushing through domestic spending cuts. As a result the Prime Minister is merely a "spectator rather than a statesman" on the global stage, and is letting the country down.

Ms Cooper will tell the Chatham House think-tank that a meeting of the EU council could be crucial amid pressure on the euro and a sluggish economic recovery.

"Just when we need a serious British strategy for Europe, instead the Government is pursuing a narrow agenda constrained both by domestic politics, pandering to the Eurosceptics, and by their flawed economic policy too," she will say. "Britain should be pressing other European countries to face up to the contradictions in their economic approach and do more to support growth and jobs. Instead they are paralysed by their own politically driven economic plan and by the need to appease Eurosceptics at home.

"They are asleep at the helm while a storm surrounds Europe and they are letting the British people down."

Ms Cooper will insist the coalition should be proposing "sensible measures to support economic stability and growth across Europe".

"Instead they are focusing on domestic naval gazing, with a dog's dinner of a Bill in Parliament seeking to placate and soothe the seething Euroscepticism in the Conservative Party," she will say.

"Collapsing again into confusion and turning their backs on the opportunities and benefits that working in partnership can bring.

"There is a distinct lack of strategy in the Government's foreign policy, borne out of a narrow focus on short-term domestic policy rather than an assessment of the global challenges and working out how they will affect Britain. As a result the Prime Minister is still seeing the world through a narrow domestic prism, rather than looking at global challenges and seeing how they will affect Britain. It is a shrivelled vision of Britain's role in the world, and ultimately will let Britain down."

Ms Cooper will accuse Mr Cameron of failing to demonstrate a "clear sense of the global challenges we face over the next decade, and the risks and opportunities for Britain".